Our Race Action Plan
In May 2022 the national Police Race Action Plan was launched, developed jointly by the National Police Chief’s Council (NPCC) and the College of Policing. The plan sets out changes across policing to improve outcomes for Black people who work within or interact with policing.
The national plan has allowed us to develop our localised Thames Valley Police Race Action Plan.
Why are we developing our TVP Race Action Plan?
Our TVP Race Action Plan aims to improve the trust and confidence of our diverse communities, especially our Black communities, and of our own workforce, and address any racial disparities in the service.
How are we driving forward our Race Action Plan?
Our plan commits us to four key pillars, which further enable our communities to feel:
- Represented: We want communities to see themselves when they look at policing. This is about representation, retention and our internal culture.
- Respected: We want to treat our communities fairly, with respect and dignity. This is about eliminating any racial bias and disproportionality.
- Involved: We want to involve our communities in policing. This is about knowing where our communities are and improving our engagement with them.
- Protected: We want to protect our communities. This is about taking action if some communities get a different service than others.
The plan allows us to develop on the work that is already taking place within TVP to address racial disparities, in areas such as:
We are committed to engaging with and listening to the views, concerns and issues of those who live, work, study or visit the region.
Our Independent Advisory Groups (IAG) are a forum that allow us to speak with community representatives about concerns being raised, to gauge opinions on policing and to gather feedback on incidents. There are IAGs for each of our 11 local policing areas and groups who cover the whole Thames Valley and who focus specifically on stop and search
In October 2022, we launched the Independent Oversight Scrutiny Board (ISOB) for the TVP’s Race Action Plan, led by Calvin Wilson, a barrister with significant experience of working with Black and other diverse communities.
The ISOB plays a key role in shaping the TVP Race Action Plan and will check, challenge and scrutinise the Programme Board on its delivery.
In addition to the ISOB, you can also reach out to our direct TVP Race Action Plan area contacts mentioned further down this page.
Thames Valley Police is committed to being fully representative of the communities it serves, and to this end, in 2019 we launched TVP’s Positive Action and Engagement Team (PAET).
The team was set up as we recognised a need to encourage and support Black, Asian and ethnic minority communities to consider a career within policing and improve representation to reflect the diverse communities we serve in the Thames Valley.
The team comprises of six serving police officers, led by a police sergeant and a police inspector.
You can learn more about the team by visiting the Valuing Difference page on our careers site.
Thames Valley Police’s internal Diversity and Inclusion Board monitors the progress we are making in delivering an inclusive environment for all our people and the provision of an equitable service for all.
In late 2022, Thames Valley Police was awarded with the prestigious Race Equality Matters Trailblazer status by an independent panel of judges, in recognition of our work to address racial inequality within the organisation. We were the first police force to receive this recognition.
In addition, at TVP we are proud to have a diverse range of staff support networks, including faith-based, gender-based, sexual orientation-based and ethnicity-based networks. They act as critical friends to the organisation, championing improvements to policies and practices that improve the working lives of those within the force. You can learn more about the work we do for the development of our staff by visiting the Supporting You page on our careers site.
How you can support our Race Action Plan
Get involved in TVP’s Independent Scrutiny and Oversight Board
The board is currently recruiting members of the public to join them and will soon have their own independent website. To get involved and volunteer in TVP’s ISOB, please visit our Vacancies page.
Updates
- Improving Policing Together – our Race Action Plan
- TVP wins Police Force of the Year award at GG2 Leadership & Diversity Awards
- TVP Race Action Plan Newsletter: A summer of consultations
- TVP's Race Action Plan so far
- Reflecting on Black History Month
- Thames Valley Police launches Independent Scrutiny and Oversight Board
- Thames Valley Police joins over 800 organisations by signing the Race at Work Charter
- Our Race Action Plan - One year of progress
- Improving Policing Together – Driving forward our Race Action Plan